Purpose: To assess the contribution of mammography in the detection of cancer in the contralateral breast in women with bilateral breast cancer.
Materials and methods: Mammograms and clinical records of 77 patients with bilateral breast cancer were reviewed in a retrospective study.
Results: The contralateral cancer was detected at mammography in 68 of 77 patients (88%) and identified at mammography alone in 50 patients (65%). No statistically significant differences in either mammographic detection rates or stage of the contralateral cancer were noted in patients younger than 50 years (n = 25) compared with those 50 years of age or older (n = 52). Cancers detected at annual screening mammography were of lower stage than cancers in unscreened patients. In the screened group, 41% of tumors were ductal carcinoma in situ alone and 23% were stage II or III, compared with 22% and 50%, respectively, in the unscreened group.
Conclusion: Mammographic examination and follow-up in patients with unilateral breast cancer allow detection of the majority of contralateral breast cancers and earlier stage cancers.